Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala will have 450 functional e-toilets by the end of this fiscal, becoming the first state in India with Connected Toilet Infrastructure which would be on a par with health and hygiene standards of developed countries. An e-toilet has an automated door opening, power flushing, automatic closet washing and sterilisation and automatic platform-cleaning mechanism -- all backed by SMS alerts to inform a control room about the status of water tank and biogas plant in the event of any errors or failures.
The product has been developed by city-based Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt Ltd, a part of Eram Group which has operational presence in India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. This latest technological innovation is a convergence of web-mobile-electronics technologies and is expected to bring about a revolutionary change in the public health and hygiene sector of the state, a company statement said on Friday.
Currently, there are over 150 e-toilets across various locations and before the end of this fiscal another 300 will be operational. The cost of e-toilet varies from Rs.350,000 to Rs.850,000 (inclusive of bio-membrane reactor's price). Bio-membrane reactor is a nano-technology-aided device that instantly recycles the used water and makes it ready for future use, the statement said.
An e-toilet occupies around 20 square feet and has two doors -- a sliding door at the front and a normal door ahead of the toilet. As soon as the coin (entry charge) is dropped, the sliding door opens and the light and the exhaust fan switch on. Inside the toilet there is a bucket, mug and such other items.
In case the user does not flush the toilet after use, the system automatically does all the cleaning operations. Human excreta is treated and reduced to a sand-like material, which will not have any bacteria and is removed physically once in three months.
The e-toilet unit will receive alerts in case of any theft or vandalism attempts. The agency responsible for the operation of the e-toilet will also be able to remote-control the unit and clean the toilet. The price of a unit depends on the manufacturing materials like fibre, metal sheets, stainless steel, MS pillars and a combination of the said materials.
Electronic and cleaning features will be the same for all variants but more facilities for the physically challenged, women and children will be added to the models.
The average life of a unit is estimated to be around 7-10 years.
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